Alpha-Theta Training for Chronic Trauma Disorder,
A New Perspective -- Section IV. A Case Study

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IV. A CASE STUDY
    A. BACKGROUND AND TREATMENT EXPERIENCE
    B. FOLLOW-UP

A CASE STUDY
The case study of B.K. offers a means to further illustrate various points made earlier in this chapter. B.K. was the first patient our clinic trained with the alpha-theta protocol several years ago and, though we have trained many since, she still remains a very clear example of the healing process that can occur.

A. BACKGROUND AND TREATMENT EXPERIENCE

B.K. was referred to us by her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor who called to say that B.K. had been sober for 3 years, but had begun drinking about 3 months prior and was craving alcohol. Her sponsor knew of nothing more to do with her and asked if we could help.

B.K. made an appointment and appeared at our office in what seemed to be a somewhat anxious and skeptical state, but stating that she wanted help with her dilemma. Typical of most of our patients who are treatment resistant and/or high risk, she presented with multiple diagnoses. She was obese and reported that she had frequent panic attacks, was a binge eater, was depressed and had suicidal ideation, though she had no plan and said she really did want to live. She was a self-mutilator and had migraine headaches. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of her case was that she was "emotionally phobic"-unable to express any feelings and would panic, become immobilized, dissociate, binge eat, or leave and get drunk when pressed to face any emotion-arousing situation.

B.K. came from an alcoholic family. Her sister is an alcoholic; her mother, a nurse, died of alcoholism; her father, a doctor, senile before his death, also was alcoholic. Her mother's brother froze to death on a porch at age 19 when he came home drunk and his family would not let him in the house. She said she knew that her paternal grandfather was alcoholic, and believed that some of her mother's family members also may have been.

Her initial testing with the MMPI-2 revealed an anxiety disorder or dysthymic disorder superimposed on a schizoid personality disorder. Both of the diagnoses fit our clinical impression of her. Her testing also showed a possible schizophrenic disorder. Results of Millon II testing revealed some elevation on borderline personality and on the compulsive and dependent scales, all of which also fit our impression of her.

She agreed to treatment using neurotherapy. At the sixth session, she experienced abreactions during the session and was having auditory hallucinations, but desired to continue with sessions. She began having flashbacks and during the fifteenth session experienced a flashback and perceived that she had been sexually abused in the crib, presumably by her father. She recognized this as the probable core of her lifelong problems. She had lived her life as a victim (her own and others'), yet when she had the flashback of crib abuse, she claimed her adult self appeared to her in the room and said in a booming voice, "How dare you!" and took the baby from the abuser. This apparently was what some call the "resource self " that had not appeared in her life before. Using neurotherapy, we have found that this phenomenon occurs with many female clients who have reportedly experienced sexual abuse. The adult self will enter the flashback and say "How dare you!" or "Don't you ever do that again!" and rescue the child. An inner resource seemingly is reclaimed, and the patient never is fully the victim again. This has been a spontaneous occurrence, apparently emerging from some part of the self and not programmed by us.

B.K. completed the treatment with a total of 30 sessions and was retested. The MMPI-2 (see Fig. 13.2) showed no clinical diagnosis on Axis I and personality disorder NOS on Axis 11. There was a major drop in the Depression scale from 81 to 53. She was no longer suicidal. She showed the same shifts on the Millon II with the Dysthymia scale dropping from 102 to 34, and Borderline dropping from 86 to 70. These scores also fit our impressions of her. Perhaps most noteworthy was her pretreatment Millon II score of 71 on the Schizoid scale reflecting her unwillingness to process any emotional content. Her post score of 00 on this scale suggested that she now could be "emotionally available" for further therapeutic treatment. Her elevation on the Histrionic scale on the post-treatment Millon II (see Fig. 13.3) may be perceived as a positive developmental step, suggesting she was now not blocking her emotions. She was still slightly high on Psychopathic Deviate on the MMPI-2 scale. We often see this scale remaining slightly high after EEG feedback training, and this could be related to a developmental stage of owning one's own creativity and independence. She came in for five "booster" sessions during the next year when she felt stressed and sensed that she was losing some of her inner peace and connection to herself.

After the completion of the neurotherapy program, B.K. reported nO craving for alcohol and said she was able to face her emotions. She then went through our center's PAIRS program, which is an intense 120-hour group program extending over 4-5 months, attended by couples and singles. The focus is predominantly on the relationship with one's self. It is usually a very emotional experience, and our belief is that she could not have gone through this if she had not completed the EEG feedback training. During this extensive period of time, she only left the room and the group one time. She was gone for about an hour and returned. She shared with the group that she had left, and told them that she knew why she had left-it was the weekend on sexuality. She reported, quite proudly, that she knew why she had left and that, though she had left, she never left the building and had returned.

FIGURE 13.2 Pre-, post-, and follow-up testing graph of the MMPI-2 of B.K.

FIGURE 13.3 Pre-, post-, and follow-up testing graph of the Million II of B.K.

B. FOLLOW-UP <top>

Several years later I saw B.K. at a lecture and she came up to speak. She appeared healthy and well groomed. She was still overweight, but said she was no longer bingeing on food and had remained sober. She said she was in an incest survival group and that memories were still surfacing, but when they did she would feel sad and grieve for a few days and then be able to let the associated negative feelings go and move on with her life. She reported a good relationship with her husband and claimed to be doing well on her job.

At the time of this writing she agreed to do an almost 8-year follow-up on her MMPI-2 and Millon II personality inventories (see Figs. 13.2 and 13.3). All scales of the MMPI-2 now are fully within normal limits. The computerized printout stated that this clinical profile is within normal limits, with no clinical diagnosis provided on either Axis I or Axis 11. The Psychopathic Deviant score had dropped to within normal limits, and the Depression scale had dropped from its original T score of 81 to 30. The Millon II follow-up showed that the Borderline scale (originally scored 86) now is 21; Dysthymia (originally 102) now is 23; Debasement is 0; Avoidant and Passive-Aggressive scores are 2, with Thought Disorder and Major Depression scores of 1. B.K. has continued her sobriety and her path to health.

B.K.'s case involves many aspects of the healing commonly seen using this protocol and illustrates many points, including what have been called the "witness consciousness" and the "resource self," which were described in the preceding section.

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